A young Tory party activist spoke about the 'never ending torture' he went through in his final words to his parents before he took his own life.

Former Conservative Way Forward boss Paul Abbott told the coroner that Elliott Johnson had been 'terrified' he'd be 'knifed to the end of the earth' if he complained about his treatment.

Tatler Tory Mark Clarke had allegedly threatened to squash Elliott 'like an ant' in the weeks before his death on a railway track last September.

The former Conservative parliamentary candidate 'went ballistic' and grabbed Elliott Johnson in a pub in August 2015 in a row over a photograph he had used on his blog, it was alleged.

Elliott claimed Mr Clarke had threatened to 'destroy' his career, and had sued others, telling him: 'I squash them like ants when they are small and young - this is what I'm going to do to you.'

A coroner has today ruled that the young activist took his own life. The inquest also heard the alleged bullying was 'potentially criminal'.

Tragedy: Young Tory Elliott Johnson (pictured) took his life on railway tracks at Sandy, Bedfordshire, last September, after claiming he had been bullied

Elliott Johnson (pictured left), 21, killed himself on train tracks last September after a bitter row with former parliamentary candidate Mark Clarke (centre), who allegedly threatened to squash him 'like an ant'

Upsetting: The tragic last message written by Elliott Johnson to his parents before killing himself - talking about being bullied and betrayed

Elliott's parents, Ray and Alison Johnson, with a photo of their son, outside the coroner's court after the verdict

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Paul Abbott told the hearing today that Clarke's behaviour was 'potentially criminal' and said there had been other complaints by the group's volunteers against him.

He said: 'His behaviour degenerated very markedly - what began in June with comparatively low level stupid things became threats in July which became overt bullying in August.'

Elliott had spoken to Mr Abbott about the allegations he had made against Mr Clarke, during which he had seemed 'terrified' and said he feared 'they are going to knife me to the end of the earth' if he proceeded with his complaint.

EXCERPT FROM ELLIOTT'S FINAL NOTE LEFT FOR HIS PARENTS

Dear Mum and Dad,

Well what can I say. By the time you read this I will no longer be here. Sorry. I love you so much I can't explain. I failed in life despite your help, for which I am very thankful.

These past few weeks have been the worst of my life. I find myself on the work scrapheap. My choice is end it now or wait till the death of my career when the money runs out. I have also been involved in a huge political issue. I have been bullied by Mark Clarke and betrayed by Andre Walker. Now all my bridges are burnt. Where can I go from here? I am sorry it has come to this and hope you can recover after a time. I want you to be together and get over my death. The help you have given me is truly awe-inspiring. It is hard to put it into words.

I love you so much. Never forget this. I love Harriet and Charlotte [his sisters] too. I will see you soon: fate cannot keep us apart for ever. I will see you on the other side. I love you. I love you so much yet I must make this decision. It is hard for me but the rest of my life would be a never ending torture. That's how I see it. Love you so much and the rest of the family.

Elliott xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Paul Abbott, who has since resigned from CWF, said that Mr Clarke's 'entrenched' hatred of his organisation increased when young Tory activists scared of him came to him wanting to join CWF.

He also saw Elliott taking a job as a political editor with Mr Abbott as a betrayal after he had worked on the RoadTrip campaign in 2014.

He said Mr Clarke was on a 'warpath' and added: 'It wasn't just a dislike, it was something of a vendetta. That is the climate in which Elliott and other young activists experienced.

'We tried to initially ignore Mark Clarke and avoid him. Then were tried complaining but that didn't seem to work.'

Mr Abbott told the packed courtroom Elliott's redundancy weeks after the incident with Clarke was to do with 'our financial position', not because of the August pub row.

He said: 'There was no way on earth we would have done something to help Mark Clarke - I would literally have been the last person on earth to do that'.

Mr Johnson was found dead on railway line in September last year, a few weeks after his altercation with Clarke.

He left a note to Clarke and his henchman entitled 'bullies and betrayers' which said 'this should be on your mind.'

Andre Walker, a former lover who was named in the note as someone who had betrayed him, sat in silence in the inquest as the note was read out.

To the friends and allies, Elliott wrote: 'I let you down. Sorry.'

To the 'bullies and betrayers' he wrote: 'I could write a hate message, but actions speak louder than words. I was never one for hate anyway. But I think this should be on your mind.'

To his family, he wrote; 'I have also been involved in a huge political issue. I have been bullied by Mark Clarke and betrayed by Andre Walker. I had to wrongly turn my back on my friends. Now all my political bridges are burnt. Where can I even go from here? Even if I had done the right thing in my heart first and not been caught up in the fake idea of a rightwing movement. But that is that. I am sorry it has come to this.'

Ray Johnson said today that before his altercation with Clarke his son was having the ‘time of his life’ working and living in London.

He was a ‘very caring, very gentle, very loyal’ person.

He said it was only after his death that he realised that his son was subject to a ‘victimisation campaign by Clarke against Elliott and others at CWF.’

The coroner also heard that Elliott had tried to kill himself three times in 2011, but his family said these were cries for help not genuine suicide attempts.

Elliott's allegations eventually sparked an investigation and the resignation of former party chairman Grant Shapps.

Mr Clarke, who has since been expelled from the party, strongly denies the allegations against him.

Mr Clarke is known as the so-called Tatler Tory after he was tipped for a future Cabinet position by the society magazine.

The inquest heard Elliott, a University of Nottingham graduate, had been told his political editor role was at risk of redundancy on August 19, having been in the job since June.

Elliott's ex-lover, Andre Walker, was also named in the suicide note but is unlikely to give evidence, Mr Walker still attended the hearing today

The inquest into the death of 'bullied' young Tory activist Elliott Johnson started today but the coroner has warned his heartbroken family: 'We're not here to apportion blame'.

His parents Alison and Ray claim their son suffered 'inhuman and degrading' treatment by 'Tatler Tory' Mark Clarke before taking his life on railway tracks at Sandy, Bedfordshire, last September.

In March Mr and Mrs Johnson had urged the coroner to examine allegations of 'systemic' bullying within the Tory party, especially by Clarke and his associates.

But Coroner Tom Osborne turned down the request, saying: 'I will not allow the inquest to be used as a tool for putting anyone on trial'.

As a result 'Tatler Tory' Mark Clarke, a senior election aide sacked from the party over the scandal, avoided giving evidence at the inquest, despite being accused of targeting him in a suicide note.

In one of three suicide notes, Mr Johnson said his parents Ray and Alison, from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, had struggled with his sexuality.

He was also tormented by guilt over the fact he would not give them grandchildren, which the police report says was a 'contributory factor' in his suicide.

Mr Johnson's first suicide attempt was in spring 2011, when he threw himself in the River Nene at Wisbech. The current took him to a ladder where he got out, the document reveals.

The teenager visited his local GP with his parents, and the report describes 'the difficulties he was having at his parents' non-acceptance of his sexuality'.

In May 2011, having lost a boyfriend in a car accident a few weeks earlier, he ate poisonous leaves in his bedroom, believing he had taken enough to kill himself.

In November he made another suicide attempt while at a club for a friend's birthday.

Mr Johnson rallied and went to Nottingham University, where he studied history. He joined Road Trip and was recruited by the pressure group Conservative Way Forward (CWF) after graduating.

In August he had a heated row with Mark Clarke in Westminster pub and made a formal complaint of bullying to the Tory Party.

Mr Johnson later secretly taped Mr Clarke threatening to 'destroy' him in a 90-minute showdown in another pub.

Two weeks after the first row with Mr Clarke, Mr Johnson was made redundant from his full-time role by CWF.

He began researching suicide methods on his computer on the same day he rowed with Clarke, August 12, until the night before his death on September 15, the inquest heard.

'BULLY' MARK CLARKE WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN AT THE INQUEST

The former election aide was banned for life from the Conservative Party

Mark Clarke was nowhere to be seen at yesterday’s inquest into 21-year-old Elliott Johnson’s death.

The former election aide, who was banned for life from the Conservative Party amid bullying allegations, has kept a low profile since the beginning of the scandal.

Despite revelations that he had a long-running affair with Tory aide India Brummitt, friends say he remains ‘happily married’ to his wife, senior NHS manager Sarah.

Miss Brummitt – said to have openly shared hotel rooms with Clarke as they travelled the country as part of the Road Trip campaign – did attend the inquest. She was seen sitting at the back taking notes. Also at the hearing was Andre Walker, a journalist and former Tory aide who was in a relationship with Mr Johnson at the time of his death.

Clarke is believed to still be living with his wife and two children at their £900,000 family home in Tooting, south London, and working in marketing for Unilever.

He has repeatedly denied all the allegations made against him.

Falling out: In August last year Elliott, left, had a heated row with Mark Clarke, right, in a Westminster pub and made a formal complaint of bullying to the Tory Party - he later withdrew it

Mr Johnson's complaint against Mr Clarke, which he later withdrew, triggered at least 20 more, including some of alleged sexual harassment from female volunteers.

The report describes how at 11.30pm on the night before he died, Mr Johnson researched suicide methods, booked his train ticket online, and wrote the suicide notes.

He turned off the computer at 2.30am and left a handwritten note saying, 'It was the best of times it was the worst of times' next to a photograph of him at university with his parents.

The next day he caught a train from Kings Cross to Sandy in Bedfordshire.

He left the train at just after 4pm, placed his silver hip flask containing Vodka and orange on a blue towel and lay down on the track. Just over two hours later his body was spotted.

After his death, a note was found in which Elliott cited the alleged bullying by former activist Mark Clarke, a 'betrayal' by mutual friend Andre Walker and his loss of employment as reasons. Both Mr Clarke and Mr Walker deny the allegations.

Elliott's parents Alison and Ray claim their son suffered 'inhuman and degrading' treatment by 'Tatler Tory' Mark Clarke before taking his life on railway tracks at Sandy, Bedfordshire, last September

In March Mr and Mrs Johnson had urged the coroner to examine allegations of 'systemic' bullying within the Tory party, especially by Clarke and his associates. But Coroner Tom Osborne turned down the request

Mr Walker, a lobby journalist and former political adviser who claims he was in a relationship with Elliott, attended today's inquest.

In a statement ahead of the hearing, he told the Press Association: 'The loss of Elliott has left a hole in everyone's lives. I'm just looking forward to getting some clarity on all the circumstances surrounding his death not just the ones that have been focused on heavily so far.'

Elliott's parents Ray and Alison, of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, want to know if the death is linked to a series of events that occurred in the last few weeks of his life.

The family stated that at the time of his death, Elliott believed his career was over after his full-time position with Conservative Way Forward was made redundant.

Elliott had alleged bullying a month before his death. His allegations eventually sparked an investigation and the resignation of former party chairman Grant Shapps.

The allegations centre on the activities of Mr Clarke who has since been expelled from the party. Mr Clarke has strongly denied the allegations against him.

Elliott had made a formal complaint about Mr Clarke to Conservative HQ.

BOYFRIEND WHO 'BETRAYED' CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST ELLIOTT JOHNSON

A Tory activist who Elliott Johnson claimed had 'betrayed' him in a suicide note has revealed they were in a romantic relationship until 'the day he died'.

Days before Mr Johnson's suicide, Andre Walker, pictured right today, was secretly recorded in a meeting lambasting him for making a complaint about 'Tatler Tory' Mark Clarke.

He called Mr Johnson a 'f****** d*******' and told him he had behaved 'disgracefully'. But the political journalist yesterday denied bullying and said the pair were close.

'We hit it off straight away and the relationship started pretty soon after that and it lasted until the day he died, as far as I was concerned,' he said.

'The reason that I have been coy about that is because I know that saying that will upset the family and I'm very sorry about that.'

A friend of Mr Johnson said: 'Elliott absolutely adored [Mr Walker] ... I don't think that was reciprocated. Andre is in his late 30s and Elliott was 21, so young and sensitive.'

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